Forums | MacLife

What are the platforms of each party?

Yes, it takes more than 50% to have a majority. Not of the popular vote but the number of seats in Parliament. I believe there are 308 seats in Parliament, so a party needs 155 seats to form a majority. It seems the conservatives will be just shy of that, but the other parties will be much smaller so it'll be a very strong minority.

As for the platforms, every single one of the parties on that map are loony liberals compared to American politics. Even the conservatives are more liberal than the Democratic Party (they're okay with abortion, gay marriage, the absence of a death penalty and of course what you folks call "socialized medicine" -- actually all these issues are off the table as far as political debate goes).

Personally I think this election has boiled down to a "who do you trust?" type of vote. The leader of the Liberal Party (who are the centrists and have traditionally been the "party of governance") recently picked the most hapless leader imaginable to take them into this election. I don't think anyone doubted he'd be a disaster.

Electorally, in Canada it all boils down to two provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Whoever scoops up the most seats in those provinces will almost certainly form the government. There were titanic political shifts in the 90s but things are starting to settle down somewhat. Quebec is still dominated by the Bloc Quebecois (light blue), a pro-separatist party that appeals to nationalist sentiment but which is rapidly running out of political steam.

matt wrote:

ShnickyShnack wrote:

As for the platforms, every single one of the parties on that map are loony liberals compared to American politics. Even the conservatives are more liberal than the Democratic Party (they're okay with abortion, gay marriage, the absence of a death penalty and of course what you folks call "socialized medicine" -- actually all these issues are off the table as far as political debate goes).

I asked because I'd be interested to know the differences and also which party I'm closest to, since I'm okay with abortion, gay marriage, the absence of a death penalty, and "socialized medicine".

For the most part they try to vie with each other over the issue of "sound leadership." For the past 15 years or so the feds have had big surpluses, reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio by an amazing 20% or so, and have been very practical about the economy (no bailouts required up here).

Of course there are some problems -- the surpluses have been purchased at the expense of cutbacks to dearly-held programs like the health care system -- but again, the differences between the two main parties (conservatives and liberals) are pretty minor.

Oh, gun control has been a bit of an issue before, but it's not a huge deal in Canada. The laws are stricter here, there's no constitutional right to own firearms, no one's particularly anxious to make a big deal of it at the moment.

The connies were previously up in arms about same-sex marriage, but after a sham vote in Parliament (in which it was reaffirmed) they've quietly let it drop.

I suppose the liberals are more environmental-minded than the conservatives; they've proposed a "carbon tax" (like idiots they proposed it before the election).

Well, no party can bring in a radical agenda, if that's what you mean.

Personally I support parties that are very liberal in Canada, so they're basically Marxist-Leninist by American standards. Yet I long ago stopped freaking out about the conservative party.

Guess The Maritimes stayed home then..
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/stor … rnout.html

And a real nail-biter on P.E.I. -

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward- … -wins.html

Squeaker breaks Liberal monopoly on P.E.I.
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | 9:40 AM AT Comments6Recommend7
CBC News

A corner of the red Island is coloured Tory blue Wednesday morning for the first time in 20 years.

    '[The Green Shift] really scares people.'— Liberal candidate Keith Milligan

Gail Shea put an end to two decades of Liberal dominance in federal politics on P.E.I. by winning the riding of Egmont by just 62 votes.

The lead shifted several times as the polls were counted, and was decided until the last one was posted.

"It feels so good because this has been such a long road," said Shea.

"The campaign might have been 36 days for some people.… We have been at this since January, we met on a weekly basis."

With more than 18,000 votes counted, Shea beat Liberal candidate Keith Milligan, a former premier, by less than half a percentage point.
Green Shift sinks Milligan

While Shea has been campaigning all year, Milligan got off to a late start. Robert Morrissey was the original candidate, but dropped out in early August.

The late start might have hurt him, said Milligan, but he believes it was the Liberal Green Shift plan that did him in.

"That really scares people," he said.

"No matter how you try to explain it, or no matter how good it could have been, it just wasn't going to be sold."

The Green Shift would have raised taxes on fossil fuels while decreasing other taxes, with the aim of being revenue neutral for the government.

Federal elections on P.E.I. are typically two-way races, but the NDP and Greens could well have had an impact in Egmont. The two parties shared nearly 2,300 votes — almost 40 times the margin of victory — a vote split on the left that worked in Shea's favour.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/map/2008/#10

I'm ok with a minority government, I prefer a conservative minority to a majority by any party.

I really, really wished the Greens had won a seat though. Just one, get their voice in Parliament. Why the hell did May have to run again MacKay? What in the world was she thinking?

"There were gains for the Liberals in Newfoundland and Labrador, but they were washed away by losses in New Brunswick," MacLeod said.

Independent MP Bill Casey - kicked out of the Tory caucus for voting against the federal budget in June 2007 - was easily re-elected in his riding in northern Nova Scotia.

Despite her spirited campaign, Green Leader Elizabeth May went down to defeat in Nova Scotia, losing to Defence Minister Peter MacKay in Central Nova.

During the campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Atlantic candidates zeroed in on the Liberal Party's Green Shift plan and its controversial and complex carbon tax.

Harper warned Atlantic Canadians that those living on the East Coast stood the most to lose under the Liberal plan because the region relies more on home heating fuel than any other.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Atlantic/081015/t101506A.html

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion claimed the Tories were lying about the party's plan by failing to mention the accompanying tax cuts for green corporations and consumers.

But Harper's message apparently stuck in P.E.I. and New Brunswick, said Don Desserud, a political science professor at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

Hank Rearden wrote:

Two quick points:

1) The three western provinces vote as a clump in a manner analogous to either Quebec or Ontario. So, they are the third important block.

Yeah, all four ridings.

2) The only party that I still freak out about is the Liberals, because they don't give a rip about anything other than southern Ontario and Quebec.

You keep saying that, but clearly the people in those regions aren't big fans of the Liberals either.

Ooh, pretty.

First of all, I was JOKING. Don't get your Western Canadian knickers in a bunch. Don't forget I grew up in Vancouver. I feel very strongly that your anti-eastern bias is way overblown.

As for what constitutes southern Ontario, I think a bit of education is in order.

Toronto is in that area, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than that. Southern Ontario includes the huge area from the Niagara Peninsula all the way up to North Bay or so. If you look at a bit of reality -- navigate to Ontario and then Southern Ontario -- you'll find the tories did mighty well in Southern Ontario. And even inside the city, it wasn't a clean sweep, with two NDPers taking seats (including Jack Layton).

Certainly I don't need to point to the Quebec map to indicate how badly the Liberals did there.

Does that redeem the east in your eyes?

Haha just joking ... I know nothing can accomplish that.

ShnickyShnack wrote:

Does that redeem the east in your eyes?

Haha just joking ... I know nothing can accomplish that.

The east (i.e., the Maritimes) is fine with me. And, frankly, Quebec doesn't bother me too much either.

It's just Toronto. Grrrr!

BTW, have you seen this... I haven't watched it yet, and I suspect that it might be a gonger, but you never know, it has potential for a laugh or two:

http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiart … fid1=26517